Ring Around the Rosies

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Location: Dula: Sataya Business District: Back Alleyways

((June 29, 1622, evening. Open to the crew of the Star Crash and the Super Arrow and any Dulans that happen to be in the area.))

Maybe it had been a wild goose chase, maybe it had been a trap, maybe it had been legitimate. Not wanting to risk his crew being stolen, Reuben had quietly told Cardinal that he would be back in a few days, before heading out to Dula on a public airship. Isaac had supposedly been at Dula.

Reuben was a bit skeptical, having heard that Isaac had been arrested in Seria, but the best thing to do would be to figure out whether the man actually had been there - and what the heck the man had done to get himself arrested and abandon poor Caden. Bless Julian's heart. The man was on his good list for doting on the boy.

Being in Dula, he had to be careful. He still had a bounty, though no one had any recent pictures on him. Still, he would pickpocket a few of the more wealthy looking people and slip off before anyone would even notice. Had to keep funds up, after all, who would look after those Clockworks if he didn't.

Of course, when he suddenly found himself at the business end of a gun, Reuben just gazed boredly at the man in front of him with it.

"You're that kid," the man said. "No hard feelings, but a bounty's a bounty."

"Don't know what you're talking about, but I can easily get rid of you before you do anything to me," Reuben said in a bored tone.

"That's what they all say. And really now?" And Reuben found another gun pressed again him from behind. It didn't take a genius to find out this guy had a buddy. "My buddy and I are going to split the money for taking you in alive."

"Shooting me in the back is going to keep me alive?" Somehow, Reuben doubted it. Why would they want him alive, anyways?

"No, but this will." The guns shifted, but before Reuben could swerve away, a pair of shots rang out. Reuben let out a yelp before he crumpled to the ground with a bullet to the leg and another to the arm.

"...Why're we taking him alive again?"

"Didn't ask, but he preferred alive. Money's twice as much if he's alive."

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OoC: Andy's going to be in a pissy mood. Just saying.

Ic: <sub>It's not every day this man goes back to his homeland to take care of business, but he did. He was, after all, concerned for his own safety being here. This man was wanted, and costed a lot of money by the authorities, even if most of the people were terrified of the almost super soldier. Andromeda was just happy to bury his face in a map to figure out what to do.

He kept his distance from the girls and Cepheid for now, that is, if Cepheid even wanted to bother going out as The Star Man in THIS dump. Nerys refused to go out of the ship and the man knew exactly why.

It was up to Andy himself but his real intention here was that Reuben came here, for some god forsaken reason, and it took a conversation from the Clockwork Cardinal to quickly figure out something was amiss.

And the gunshots that the man heard definitely proved in. Andy slipped into the shadows, pressing his back against the wall as he looked over his shoulder.

Reuben...

His son had been shot.

Oh, they were going to pay. Furthermore, he was going to find out WHO exactly send out that Bounty. Andy wasn't going to finish his spree until EVERYBODY had been taken care of.

The man pulled out his flintlock and pulled back the barrel of his gun, with an audible clack. The man was halfway in the evening shadows, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the bounty hunters.

"... Big mistake."</sub>

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((OOC: No surprise there, I did get his son shot.))

It was one of those things that Reuben was definitely regretting at the moment, considering that one leg and one arm were no longer working. He breathed a bit heavily, trying to move away from those bounty hunters. Dammit, Andy was going to kill him if he found out about this. Besides, in two days was Caden's birthday, and he'd hoped to have been back by then...

"Ugh! What the hell!"

Speaking of Andy, he wondered whether the gunshots had messed up his brain, even though they hadn't hit his head. For he was considering Andy's dangerous expression the most beautiful thing at the moment. Funny, several months ago, he would have likely wet himself upon seeing the man looking like that.

"?!"

Speaking of the bounty hunters, one of them had grabbed Reuben's arm, by the one that thankfully hadn't been shot, but dropped him upon seeing Andy. The other let off a reflexive shot. Whether it hit or not was a different story, but either way, both bounty hunters were about to wet themselves upon seeing exactly who it was that had interrupted them.

"No bounty is worth this."

The two of them took off, without Reuben. Meanwhile, Reuben stared at both his bleeding arm and his bleeding leg. His head was starting to spin a bit...

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<sub>"Oh just try to run, boys..." Andromeda grinned, his psychosis kicking in. No, he wouldn't take it out on his son. After all, the entire reason behind this was because the poor boy was shot. Andromeda had to step back, considering he was shot at, but sheer luck (where else would Reuben get it aside from the fact his expy is R-Shadow) had it miss and hit at his feet.

Andromeda aimed and fired his pistol, aiming for wherever, mostly the lower torso and legs, hoping to down at least one of them, using his speed to reach forward to grab the man's head and slam it into the ground.

His cape billowed behind him as he went into a sudden stop and he leaned forward to hiss in the man's ear. Andy would take full advantage of his intimidation and sheer infamy to deal with this.

"I'll make sure not to kill you if you tell me exactly who gave you this bounty." Andromeda aimed his flintlock at the man's back. Yeah he was fully intending on this threat and making sure the man would never walk again if he doesn't tell him everything.

That other guy? Just let him try and shoot at Andy. Pfft. So much good that will do, it'll just enrage him.</sub>

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The one closer to Andy, the one that had attempted to shoot him the first time but had missed (Reuben had to duck the bullet so that he didn't get shot) was the one that had gotten shot in the legs. He struggled a bit, but wondered if for one moment whether he would get out of this.

Reuben kept an eye on the other man, his good arm reaching out to grab the gun that the guy had dropped. "I really suggest you two don't try anything if you want to live with your um... dignity intact."

The one that wasn't being Andy'd seemed torn between rescuing his buddy or trying to save himself. He ultimately chose the latter, and took off. The one that was being Andy'd scowled a bit.[/color]

"F-Fine! It was Abel Callaghan! The RPer stole this name from a character in her original story, though after she wrote this realized how similar it was to 'Calloway'. He knew some Swire Inc people, said the price was double for him alive! Now let me go!"

Reuben blinked at the name. He had never heard that name in his life. That, or he had lost too much blood to actually think straight.

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<sub>Andy looked up to see that man had tried to reach for his gun, but his threats made it worthwhile, and the man preferred to run off like a chicken. Andy adjusted his grip on the man, pressing the barrel of his flintlock against his spine and then went to sit on him, adjusting his position rather... questionably."What a loyal friend you have. That's pretty much all of Dula in a nutshell~." He went quiet as the man explained who he was. Abel Callaghan. He recognized the name, but he wasn't too familiar with him. For now he would take Reuben back to his ship,get Dani to patch the kid up, and maybe take him to Sine over in Seria.

"Abel Callaghan, and he knows people from Swire Inc." He leaned forward against to whisper in the man's ear. "Good boy~."

He got up off of the man... and then shot him in the back anyway. He'd pull out a star shaped metal piece and tossed it on him because Rosa took the rose theme. He then smirked.

"Well, I said I wouldn't kill you, but now you'll never be able to walk again. Good luck with the bills, Bounty Hunter~." He then walked over to Reuben, his more important target, and picked the child up. Much to Reuben's chagrin it was bridal style, but Andy didn't want the kid flopping about helplessly and tumbling the bullets in him, tearing his injury even more than it already way.</sub>

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Please don't traumatize your son anymore than he was. Reuben had to close his eyes, because he thought for a moment that Andy was going to violate the man in front of him. Yeah, he knew his biological father pretty well by this point. Thankfully, only the man's scream from being shot came from him.

"...Thanks for not doing it in front of me."

Nah, Reuben had no sympathy for the guy being shot. Reuben grumbled a bit as Andy picked him up, but he didn't really fight him off. He knew that he was in no condition to walk at the moment, and the arm that he'd gotten shot in had blood on his sleeve. The teenager kept it protectively against him, but still fretted.

Andy was going to be pissed at him for coming here, wasn't he?

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<sub>Andromeda would have a long trek back to his ship. In the meanwhile, he would probably stop to tear his trenchcoat- Yes... his favorite piece of wear to tie up the injuries so they didn't bleed out everywhere again. In the meanwhile, Andy would just go on and on to the kid. It didn't take a psychologist to know this man was pissed.

"You are an idiot, Reuben Stevenson." e hissed out loud, before going on. "You are so damn lucky that I was ther at that time and I actually knew what happened, or else you would have gotten yourself killed. What the hell was that, huh?" He stopped, flailing his arms up, just giving his son an angry glare.

There was something else, though. Worry, perhaps? It was Andy. He had a strange way of showing his affection. "You came to Dula knowing full well that you had a bounty, that you could get shot, or raped, or maimed, or sold to some underground organization, or to fucking Swire Inc., and for what...?" He finally picked up the kid and then adjusted his grip on him.

"I swear, you're suicidal. You are about as complete of a lunatic as I am, sonny. Don't ever do that again." He'd ground the kid, but a month waiting for his injuries to recover is probably good enough punishment for this kid.</sub>

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Did... the man just tear his trenchcoat to wrap his injuries. Reuben stared blankly at where he had been shot at, staring at the pieces of cloth that were preventing the blood from escaping his wounds more. This was going to take awhile to recover, and if Andy's actions right now were any indication, the man wasn't going to let him out of his sight.

"........." And there it came, the nagging and the angry tone. It was almost like he was listening to a lecture from his parents!

Either way, he let Andy go on the tirade, pouting a bit. He didn't quite grasp the full consequences of his actions and exactly what he had escaped because he didn't know why he'd been worth double alive, though he did know what Dula was capable of. He yelped a bit as Andy picked him up, and just let the man rant at him.

"...I was looking for someone," he admitted quietly, not able to bring himself to look at the man's eyes and instead focusing on the other's chest.

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<sub>Andy winced when he heard Reuben yelp, not really meaning for the kid to be in so much pain but right now, he had to carry the child back. He had to get Reuben to Dani, had to get those bullets removed, had to put him to bed... There was already an insane about of crap going on either way.

Plus the sooner he got Reuben taken care of, the sooner he could... take care of that Abel. Andy was fully intending to be the Cain in this situation. Ignoring the... rather cute looking pout on his face which Andy wondered if he looked the same when he was younger.

"Looking for someone..." Andromeda spoke up, deadpan, his voice dry. "In Dula. You went alone. With nobody you trusted to help you." Andy was about the just... drop the kid, but he had to keep moving. He adjusted his grip again, taking the painful route back to his ship.

"That is the single stupidest action I have ever heard. You tried... to meet someone... in Dula. Did you even think it could be a trap? Were you even wondering what would happen, you know, if you never came back to Cardinal and the others, or to me? Did you even realize that you could die or get sold into Swire Inc., and that one of us would have to explain to your baby brother about that?"

Yeah he was still going on. Maybe this time he could actually make this boy understand that going off on your own and doing dumb shit like what Andy used to do was not going to yield a lively and positive result. No, Andy would not admit how scared he was right now, even if the boy could possibly feel his heard racing, or his hands even shaking.

"What do I do with you, Reuben?!"</sub>

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That yelp was more from shock than pain, though the pain did play a factor. Reuben continued to sit in Andy's grip quietly, tugging a bit on his hat so that his hair was tucked better underneath it. The last thing they needed right now was for someone else to connect the two of them together - there were at least two people that knew that they had a connection. And it didn't click in Reuben's brain just yet that others would have just from that.

"........." Reuben didn't look up. Yeah, it had been stupid, and he hadn't realized it at the time. Logic should have told him that it was a trap, but for some reason, it hadn't hit him. What Andy was saying made perfect sense and... oh god, Caden. It would have killed that kid if he found out that he wouldn't be coming back because he'd been killed.

"...I'm sorry, pops," he murmured. Whether Andy was shaking with rage or fear, he honestly had no idea. It was a combination of both most likely.

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<sub>Finally, Andy was getting to this kid. Finally he could act less like a stupid idiot and start to think about what happened. Andy looked up as he finally got to the docks, moving down the beach, which was a bit of a way since he had to park away from the city.

"... Just, please don't do that ever again..." Andy started losing his breath, which was pretty rare for him. He has the stamina of a beast, after all. As soon as he got to the rail to bring the kid up, he leaned on the ladder, catching his breath and energy.

"DANIELA!" He shouted out as soon as he could. "I NEED SOME HELP!" He'd finally pull himself up as carefully as he could, holding this kid with one arm was tricky enough as is when he was drunk, now he was injured.</sub>

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Andy was somewhat getting through to him. Reuben was now aware of the fact that he had been an idiot and the statement about Caden had made it as if he had been doused with ice cold water. As a matter of fact, he was actually feeling guilty. Had Andy really been that concerned about him? Now he felt really bad.

"I'll try," he said.

Reuben winced as Andy yelled out for Daniela, hoping that the woman wouldn't cuddle with him if she got the chance. Either way, since he wasn't drunk this time, he could actually hold himself on the ladder with his good arm and leg if necessary. At least Andy wasn't in danger of having a drunken teenager throw up on him this time.

At least he hadn't yelled for Nerys, though knowing his luck, she would find out and yell at him.

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The younger Callidum twin stood on the deck of the Star Crash, dressed in his 'The Star Man' costume. He only finally managed to get the pants replaced and his arm out of the sling, so he was actually in the process of catching his breath after doing a little bit of rehab, flipping and moving about on the deck, his 'battle scope' in hand, getting his arm and body back in shape after it's month long hiatus.

Steadying his breathing, The Star Man glanced over to the ladder on the side of the ship as he heard his brother call up for Dani. What the? Leaning the brass scope against the railing of the deck, he jogged up to the edge and looked over.

"....On a normal occasion I would likely be making light of this situation, but given that I am a little too familiar with these circumstances, I shall remain silent." He said as he looked over the railing. Grabbing some rope, he looped it around the railing and, making a kind of pseudo pulley, leapt over the edge and lowered himself down to where they were, grabbing onto the ladder and wrapping the rope around his twin's shoulders and chest. "Hold onto the boy, I'll haul you up." He said, climbing back up the ladder and taking the other part of the rope up with him.

Accepting any help that may be offered from the girls, the masked man gave the rope a firm tug and began hauling his brother and nephew up.

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<sub>Daniela was not too far behind as soon as she heard her voice. She dumped the cooking duties on poor Nerys as she ran out to see what was going on. She looked down to see that... well there was Andy, and it seems Cepheid was already heading down there to help. She'd grab the rope and use her strength, which is a surprising amount, to help Cepheid lift them all up.

Andromeda would hold onto the kid, looking up as Cepheid came into his... oh god, his Star Man costume. He'd groan at the situation, but he was far too pissed to even say anything about it. At least Ceph was smart enough to make no comments either.

"A very intelligent idea, dear brother. I'd rather not take light to this situation right now." He'd grumble, holding onto his son until they were lifted up. He'd practically collapse on the deck and look up at Dani.

"Get your kit, now." Danie got the idea and nodded, before quickly disappearing into the deck to grab the first aid and surgery kit she had.</sub>